PREVIEW: Truman Looks To Get Back On Track In Illinois

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Soccer team hopes to bounce back after a rare two-loss weekend when they travel to Lewis University and Illinois Springfield for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference matches.

Truman is 2-3 in the conference and 2-4-1 overall with this upcoming weekend ending a stretch of their first seven of nine matches being played on the road. The Bulldogs will play six of their final eight in Kirksville starting next weekend with Drury and Southwest Baptist.

A rarity for Truman Women's soccer occurred this past weekend when they dropped both matches, on the road at Indianapolis 1-0 and at home in double-overtime to Bellarmine by the same 1-0 score. The last time the Bulldogs lost both weekend matches in conference was in 2012 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association when they fell on the road to both Fort Hays (Kan.) State and the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Of their six non-ties, all matches have been one-goal differences and of the four losses, three have been by 1-0 final scores. In fact, looking at the total goals scored through seven matches, the Bulldogs have five and the opponents only seven.

Anna Meyer has two of the five goals this year with Faith Branson, Hanna Burke and Isabel Kurzban contributing the others. In net, Beth Hopwood has a pair of shutouts and an 89.2% save percentage while playing every minute in goal.

Lewis has been a thorn in the paw of the Bulldogs since the two starting playing conference matches in 2013. Seven matches have been played with four overtime draws and two Lewis wins. The Bulldogs got a win over the Flyers in the GLVC quarterfinals last year in Kirksville by a score of 3-1. In the regular season match, Lewis downed the 'Dogs 2-1 in Kirksville. Overall, the series is in favor of the purple and white with an 8-7-4 all-time series record.

Lewis is 3-4-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the conference. They are winless in their last three matches with losses at Lindenwood and Missouri S&T and a tie over Maryville. The Flyers have played their last four matches on the road and six of their first eight. Kailey Parnello and Allie Mikos have the team lead in goals scored with three each. The Lewis keepers Lucy Clark and Bri Riscossa have a combine 64% save percentage. Clark has played the most minutes and has a 1.28 GAA.

Following Friday's match, the Bulldogs will head down Interstate 55 to Springfield for a date with the Prairie Stars. UIS will face Quincy first and enters the week with a 5-3 record and 4-1 conference mark. One of their three losses came against #4 Grand Valley State by a 6-0 final. They split last weekend with a win at Missouri S&T 1-0 and a 2-0 loss at Maryville.

Five of the team's nine goals have come off the foot of Maggie Juhlin. Erin Bolskar has two goals, both game winning for UIS. Bailey Cross has a 77.4% save percentage and allowed seven goals in seven games played.

Truman leads the all-time series 5-0-1 against UIS with the last two matches needing extra time to complete. Last year in Springfield, it was Hanna Burke that ended things with a blast from outside the 18-yard box to win it 3-2.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#3 Faith Branson: F; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#22 Hanna Burke: M; 5' 7"; Redshirt Junior

#0 Beth Hopwood: GK; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#5 Isabel Kurzban: D; 5' 5"; Senior

#13 Anna Meyer: M; 5' 7"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#3 Faith Branson
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: F

#22 Hanna Burke
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Junior
: M

#0 Beth Hopwood
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: GK

#5 Isabel Kurzban
: 5' 5"; Senior
: D

#13 Anna Meyer
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: M